Chapter 240: The face of the old mentor

Fan Xi has always maintained a good relationship with Cuban; Mark Cuban is a person of temperament; he invests a lot in basketball, and as a white boss, he likes non-Black stars with a clear banner, although he has never expressed it verbally.

With his love for basketball, he has firmly stood by Fan Xi's side in many moments, of course, except when Fan Xi fought the Mavericks. When Jean Bas wanted to trade Fan Xi, he offered the chip that moved Jean Bas the most; if it weren't for Fan Xi having to stay in Los Angeles, people might have seen the news of Fan Xi and Nowitzki joining forces.

Today, they still talked about many basketball-related issues.

Including the things Stephen Nash said, so this is why Mark Cuban can laugh at this time.

…

The happiness outside the court didn't last to the court; everyone is a professional player and will do their best for victory.

Although the Dallas reporter asked Fan Xi before the game: Why don't you find a girlfriend in Texas? You can feel the real Western wildness.

This question made Fan Xi scratch his head; he felt a bit jumpy.

But the Mavericks on the court seemed more jumpy; a group of old people were faster than monkeys with their tails lit; at the beginning, Shawn Marion played a flying moon-catching... in front of his old teammate Nash; he also looked like a monkey, and a light-stretching ape-arm dunk caused a full house of applause.

The Clippers here played a bit "cautious"; the game lost to the Spurs made the Clippers reflect internally; they still have to play some positional tactics and study this thing deeply.

It's just that when playing positional, the team will consciously give the ball to Griffin; Griffin scored 41 points in Houston and 31 points and 12 rebounds in San Antonio.

He now enjoys the feeling of being a finisher; Fan Xi and Nash feed him the ball, but cancel his ball-holding rights.

After that incident, he was very cooperative; his ball-holding single-player syndrome disappeared instantly; he no longer rushed with the ball himself, nor did he play with his clumsy crotch-back dribbling skills, and even less did he use his short-handed no-pass-look stunt.

It must be said that Griffin is a good knife. His talent is not generally strong; he can run and jump; as long as he appears in position, throwing the basketball into the sky, he can jump up and smash the basketball into the basket; this kind of explosive power and jumping ability is absolutely the top in the league, and even the top in history.

Moreover, he has some jump shooting ability and back-to-the-basket ability.

If he is willing to become an offensive finisher, just like Shawn Kemp and Stoudemire, he has a chance to activate the "Fan Xi Rule."

Because his style of play is very beautiful, he is very fan-attracting; if Fan Xi helps him pull votes again, at least in the West, he can occupy the position of All-Star starter. As long as he becomes an All-Star starter for two consecutive seasons during his rookie contract, he can activate the Fan Xi Rule, and his second contract will get the league's super top salary.

Griffin and his team are now sober; they realize Fan Xi's importance to them.

Now Griffin's relationship with Fan Xi can't be said to be filial, but it can only be said to be obedient.

After all, following Fan Xi can get big data, get on the top five plays, and the support rate can rise.

But in this game against the Mavericks, Griffin went out.

He was restricted by Nowitzki; Nowitzki used his signature stunt to perform ruthless point shooting on him near the free-throw line; he was helpless, his defense has always been a leaky spoon... this is also the reason why DeAndre Jordan has a general relationship with him; who would like a teammate who needs himself to wipe his butt every day?

Today on the offensive end, Griffin's output is also very abnormal; Haywood's presence in the paint is very strong, and Shawn Marion is everywhere; he is a hacker.

So, in the end, the Clippers used the defensive combination of Kwame Brown and DeAndre Jordan.

These two muscle monsters locked the Dallas paint in the final moments, winning favorable opportunities for the outside line.

Finally, Nash won in the 3-point duel with Kidd.

Kidd didn't hit the key ball.

And Nash completed the buzzer-beater directly.

109:106.

The Clippers won this difficult victory; this game gave the coaching staff and the front office a very, very firm impression: Griffin is not suitable for the Clippers.

Although Griffin had excellent performances in the previous two games, is a super power forward who is strong on offense and weak on defense really what the Clippers need?

No!

…

After finishing the Texas trip, the Clippers went to Memphis and had a fierce battle with the Memphis Grizzlies; the Clippers lost this game; the Grizzlies' level is very high; their black and white double bears have become more powerful after a year of grinding; the notorious Zach Randolph found redemption here; he not only won the best performance of his career but also won the respect of the community.

The expression on his face is becoming more and more calm.

He and Marc Gasol have supported a piece of sky in Memphis, bringing exciting performances to this small ball market. Now, it may be the most glorious moment in Memphis basketball history.

Time continued to march forward; returning to their home court, the Clippers defeated the Kings and the Warriors, then went to the Colorado Plateau to battle the Nuggets, losing by 1 point, and in Salt Lake City, the Clippers slaughtered their opponent again;

In the entire month of October.

The three biggest massacres in the league were all created by the Clippers; the Clippers massacred the Lakers by 71 points, massacred the Rockets by 56 points, and massacred the Utah Jazz by 52 points.

The Clippers won themselves a title of "specializing in beating the old and young."

Many bad teams in the league trembled when they met the Clippers, and even some teams that were tanking were encouraged by this: we must not let the Clippers humiliate us like this; the Clippers don't talk about morality at all.

In fact, the Clippers talked about morality; except for not replacing the main players when playing the Lakers, they replaced the main players when playing the Rockets and the Jazz.

But the Clippers' main players and substitutes have no distinction.

How to fix this?

The entire league can't find a team more "bizarre" than the Clippers; the entire camp, except for Fan Xi who is a nail-in-the-board starter, any of the other 10 players can start.

Where to reason about this.

The Clippers' strength ranking is constantly moving upward with the improvement of combat power.

Fan Xi won the Player of the Month in October because his single-month data was 25.5 points, 12.6 assists, and 7.2 rebounds, which is a historical-level data. If Fan Xi can keep this data until the end of the season, he will become the only point guard in league history to get this data.

After Fan Xi came to the Clippers, he completely dominated the game. Although his ball-holding offense is still criticized, at the regular season level, his breakthroughs and off-ball movement can guarantee that his average scoring enters the top ten in the league.

In fact, the Clippers have another player whose average scoring is in the top ten in the league. Blake Griffin, he is now averaging 27.2 points, ranking fourth in the league.

Entering November, the weather became obviously cold; in Minnesota, the Clippers' logistics department even prepared down jackets for the players; Minnesota has been in a bad rebuilding state since Kevin Garnett left: the difficulty of rebuilding such a small ball market weak team is beyond imagination.

Unless a super chosen person is selected, it is destined to be a supporting role in the league.

Counting the history of the league, the number of times weak teams in small ball markets have won the championship can be counted on one hand.

This is probably a kind of fatalistic sadness.

The Timberwolves' leader now is Kevin Love, a good power forward, known for shooting and rebounding; he is a player who can open up space and is also a strong backcourt rebound protector. It's just... his offensive rebounding ability is weak, and his athletic ability and defensive level are not high.

Leaving Minnesota, the Clippers continue to sail in the East.

The Clippers' games continue the rhythm of October; playing against ordinary strong teams, they can always enter the decisive stage, and the victory or defeat is between the lines; playing against medium teams, it is easy to handle; playing with weak teams, almost all are massacres of more than 20 points.

It seems like the Timberwolves and Bucks, they successfully received the November massacre quota, losing by 25 points and 35 points respectively.

This happened when Mike Brown reminded everyone to pay attention to the game's influence during halftime.

If there was no water release, the point differential of these two games would definitely be rushing to 40 points.

However, this also drove the alternative enthusiasm of the fans.

According to the league's past laws, the ratings of games between strong teams and weak teams are not high, and the attention is also very low. But now, a group of fans specifically go to the game arena to watch the massacre, or stay in front of the TV, which brings unexpected surprises to the league.

So, the Clippers have become the most alternative team in the league.

Any game of theirs has very high ratings.

Of course, now many commentators are looking forward to the Clippers colliding with super strong teams: Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, and the Oklahoma City Thunder, which has risen rapidly this season.

At the same time, the Clippers' voyage has reached the far east, and the thing everyone expects most is about to happen.

Since mid-November, the Clippers' second devil away trip has arrived.

The first stop is the New York Knicks.

Phil Jackson now holds power in the New York Knicks; although he doesn't have the title of head coach, he sits on the bench and has a privilege: all home games are directed by him.

Because he recently cut off his balls, his state is not very good.

It's hard to believe why Phil Jackson would suffer from testicular cancer at this age; should we say that Jean Bas's pussy is poisonous?

Anyway, they have broken up now, parted ways, and each is happy.

When Phil Jackson and Fan Xi met again, the two master and apprentice hugged tightly.

Fan Xi and Zen Master have revolutionary feelings; although this guy Zen Master loves to show off, he really has two brushes; he can be said

For so many years, the Zen Master had never heavily relied on any rookie, nor had he heavily relied on any point guard.

But Fan Xi occupied both roles, and yet Phil Jackson treated him like his own son, sending tactics and shooting rights into his hands with ease.

"The stupidest thing Jean Bas has done in her life is breaking up with me, and the absolute stupidest thing is trading you to the Clippers. Both of these moves have severed the Lakers' foundation."

Phil Jackson said to Fan Xi: "Los Angeles already has two suns now. After a while, once Kobe retires, I feel that with your ability and resolve, you will surely beat the Lakers into the dust; their facade as a powerhouse will be completely torn apart by you, revealing the ruined and rotten shell inside."

Phil Jackson was a smart man; he looked at the long term.

He also understood Fan Xi very well.

Fan Xi just smiled.

Phil Jackson then gave Fan Xi another piece of advice: "I suggest you have a frank talk with Sterling; you must fight for a share of the equity for yourself."

"Players and head coaches are just commodities, just flowing water. Only by obtaining shares, by obtaining real, tangible benefits, can you sit at the poker table and become the owner."

"Now that the Clippers' market value is skyrocketing, you must have them sign an agreement that transfers a portion of the shares to you at the current price after you retire, otherwise you will regret it. When the Clippers become a new powerhouse, they are very likely to not take you, their greatest contributor, seriously. Capital is ruthless."

"Do not challenge the power of money."

Everything Phil Jackson said to Fan Xi was earnest advice.

Fan Xi nodded seriously; he took it to heart.

Being sold off by Jean Bas was, for Fan Xi, a thorn stuck in his heart; he did not want to be treated as a commodity again.

And what Phil Jackson said made a lot of sense.

Just like Phil Jackson, he won two dynasties for the Lakers; him wanting a little bit of equity was understandable, right?

But what he got in return was being swept out the door.

He would always be an employee.

Now Fan Xi could make the Clippers' market value grow rapidly and turn the Clippers from a rotten brand into a famous trademark; the team respected him greatly and held him in high regard. But what about after he retired? Or what if his ability could no longer help the team take the next step?

Fan Xi thought a lot before the game started.

He decided to take action.

…

Although Fan Xi and Phil Jackson had a pleasant conversation before the game started, once the game began, Fan Xi dealt a fatal blow.

The Zen Master forcibly implemented the Triangle Offense System in New York; he made Carmelo Anthony, Stoudemire, and Tyson Chandler run the Triangle Offense, which was equivalent to cutting off one's feet to fit the shoes.

None of them were comfortable, and none of them played well.

Their roster was clearly top-tier in the East; pre-season predictions also considered them the third in the East, with a certain hope of contending for the Grand Champion.

But now… they were only ranked sixth in the East.

The Clippers had already become the League's benchmark for testing strong and weak teams; once the two sides clashed, in less than a quarter, the true colors of the New York Knicks were clear.

A mediocre team, not even counting as an average strong team.

Because in the first quarter, the Knicks were already trailing by 12 points.

At this time, the Zen Master couldn't sit still; he stood up during the quarter break. When Fan Xi passed by him, he grabbed him and said to Fan Xi: "We are not the Los Angeles Lakers, we have no grudges or grievances with you."

Fan Xi laughed out loud.

He understood how to play now.

The face of his old mentor had to be given, no matter what.

…